Charlie is pretty close to 90 yrs old. He's seen a lotta shit - good and bad. Charlie knows a lot about a lot of things - even eggs - and someday I'll tell that story. But until then, Brandon, what you need to know is this...there's a thing called deference.

Faggy is a word that doesn't mean what you think it does -- Since, most likely, you were born when I was jumping outta planes.

And because our language often times is contradictory to our elders, there are some of us who call 'em out on it. I remember an old boss, John Gallagher, a WWII vet, referring to a Japanese insurance company as the "Japs" in front of a Malaysian Lloyd's of London underwriter. The u/w didn't give a shit. He was above it -- That and he wasn't Japanese but John G didn't know that.

Opinion comes with experience and Charlie has the right to an opinion. So do you. But don't berate a man because you come from different places and times.

All you have to do is nod, smile and be damned glad you got to see his picture because he's gonna kick my ass when he finds out I posted it.

Tin, you get to Charlie and tell em Smitty's pissed! I've been skinny my whole life and such a reference is a low blow! I can deal with the thin word, but the S word just ain't right. In prep school when a kid drew a stick man, I thought he was making fun of me! That is how sensitive I am.

Your lips to god's ears Charlie. I think that's great, and great that he said it that way. When these old codgers pass, we'll be stuck largely with milquetoasts that complain about how insenstitve guys like Charlie were.

I patronize the Andover Shop in spite of Charlie not because of him. He is a terribly unpleasant person and It seems more than a little sophomoric that he's suffered so willingly. His sense of style is to be admired, but the man himself is insufferable.

Faggy, narrow leg....I kinda liked that style until my Son gave back (9) suits that I gave to him when I retired.I believed that they would help him to look like an executive candidate.The suits are all Brooks Bros.He did not wear any (or most)of them at all.Corporate execs do not dress that way anymore.I am very happy, because I still do dress that way.Try to be sloppy in the Corps, and you will suffer....greatly.Always like your blogs.

Any time a functionally anonymous person on the internet says "I don't care, and I'm gay/black/female/Jewish/whatever" I immediately come to the conclusion that they're a straight white man with anger issues.

It's one thing to give an old man a pass for talking the way he always has. It's another thing entirely to praise it as though the casual use of slurs is somehow more honest or authentic. Ridiculous.

Being a gentleman is not about what you wear or what you drink or where you work or what university you went to, it's about showing respect to and consideration for others. It's what you do rather than what you are, and it's a process of education that continues over an entire life. We can always seek to show greater respect and extend our compassion further.

Forgive a man his imperfections, but do not hold insensitivity as a virtue. When you do that, you abandon the path.

That said, I'm very much in sync with his preferred proportions. Skinny lapels and short jackets might work on a rail-thin model, but they look silly as hell on me.

Completely Wrong - and by what stretch of logic is objecting to his gratuitous insult bullying? Oh, bfd, he's 90 - he should have learned better by now - Kids are being bullied to death on our schoolyards today with that language and attitude. I don't really follow fashion and I couldn't care less if someone has been jumping out of airplanes or girdles - but - Undeferential? Why doesn't he show a decent amount of respect to the many gays who labored and contributed to his industry? Is he overcompensating for the fact that he's spent his life with his hands up mens' trousers?

Look at how the offensive word is proliferating in the comments. Do you want this?

If I wanted obsequious service, I'd shop at Brooks. I look at a visit to the Andover Shop as something akin to going to the barbershop in Auburn, Ala. as an undergrad: You're going to hear stuff that might offend your sensibilities, but if you shut up and listen to the folks around you, and engage in shooting the shit with alacrity inasmuch as you can being Too Young to Know Shit while you wait (and you will wait), you might pick up on something. Even if someone tells you to hold still or they'll cut your ears off. Metaphorically speaking in the case of the gents on Holyoke. And Andover is actually less expensive than Brooks for some stuff, too.

Isnt the right to offend essential in a free society? This particular "offender" flew bombers in WW2 and put it all on the line for that right. To me that's a hell of a lot more important than what smug internet scolds have to say.

KSB: The right to offend is fundamental to American society and is therefore enshrined in the First Amendment, which protects the citizenry from government censorship. The First Amendment also protects the right of others to express their opinion - i.e., for Mr. Sargent or myself to call Mr. Davidson's language offensive and inappropriate.

The right to free speech flows in all directions. It defends the seditious, the pious, the profane, the proper, all the same. The First Amendment is a shield against oppression, not a sword against the opinions of others.

WDM - thanks for assuming that one except you has even a passing familiarity with the First Amendment. But you miss the forest for the trees on two counts.

First my point was that Davidson has earned his right to offend where most of us haven't (I won't assume that you haven't served as I will leave the casting of aspersions on a person's identity to you.) That doesn't make his rights superior to yours (this isn't Sparta after all) but perhaps as Tintin suggested a bit of deference is in order.

Secondly, to be offended over the term faggy when used to describe a poorly cut suit seems to indicate a willingness, almost eagerness to be offended. In a world where homosexuals are tortured and executed in the Middle East, are subject to arrest under dubious laws in Russia and 14 States still have sodomy laws in the US it seems your attentions should turn to more important issues - like Davidson did 70 years ago.

Even my gay friends use words like "gay", "faggy" or "queer" to describe style or pop culture. It isn't necessarily a homosexual slam. How one goes off on a rant about schoolyard bullying after reading Charlie's comment is beyond me. Perhaps we need more violins on TV?

The it's-okay-because-he-was-in-WWII argument is terribly bizarre to me. It doesn't follow. But as I said: we should forgive a man his imperfections, not treat those imperfections as virtues.

As for the question of relative importance, remember that anti-gay harassment, gay bashing, and LGBT youth suicide are very real issues in America, and the amount of effort required to react to a person's use of slurs ("Hey man, that's not cool") is negligible.

Oh boy this has rattled a few cages. He's right of course. A couple of weeks back my old lady calls me to see some guy on the morning show burbling about the importance of fit in suits for men and then proceeds to showcase several handsome young fellows all wearing bum freezer suits none of which fit...gaping necks, pulling buttons, all the usual suspects. These are going to end up with bell bottom pants, giant lapels, kipper ties and frilled evening shirts...I will fess up to once owning a frilled evening shirt aaggghhhhh

I know Charlie and he is insightful with his comments about The end of another short lived trend in men's suit design. Seniority and authority combine to make a solid statement about design gone askew.

His language is used artfully to emphasize a point. He never intended anything derogatory by his words. Please lighten up everyone and listen carefully to an American treasure , Charlie Davidson.